I've been getting a lot of inquiries about this battery. I hope to be testing it soon but wanted to address this.
The Sony datasheet for the VTC5A shows a "Continuous Maximum Discharge Current" rating of 35A. But this is only if the battery temperature is kept at 80°C or lower! This means that 35A is not the continuous discharge rating as the VTC5 cannot complete a 35A discharge without going way over 80°C.
That max continuous discharge current rating is just a capability, something the battery can do without suffering much damage, as long as you don't run it at 35A for too long. Otherwise it will overheat.
Another thing to consider is that Sony wouldn't essentially create an entirely new battery, with a continuous discharge rating greater than any 18650 available in the world, and just call it the VTC5A. They would give it an entirely new model number.
I think the VTC5A is just a tweaking of the VTC5 and will share most of its characteristics, including the VTC5's 20A continuous current rating. Similar to what was done by Samsung when they created the 25R5 to replace the 25R2. The capacity and current ratings stayed the same but the R5 version had a chemistry tweak to increase the cycle life of the battery, i.e., how many times it can be charged/discharged.
There are some VTC5A test results online and they show a good 20A battery that gets quite hot by 25A. I'll know more when I get them in soon and start my testing.
The Sony datasheet for the VTC5A shows a "Continuous Maximum Discharge Current" rating of 35A. But this is only if the battery temperature is kept at 80°C or lower! This means that 35A is not the continuous discharge rating as the VTC5 cannot complete a 35A discharge without going way over 80°C.
That max continuous discharge current rating is just a capability, something the battery can do without suffering much damage, as long as you don't run it at 35A for too long. Otherwise it will overheat.
Another thing to consider is that Sony wouldn't essentially create an entirely new battery, with a continuous discharge rating greater than any 18650 available in the world, and just call it the VTC5A. They would give it an entirely new model number.
I think the VTC5A is just a tweaking of the VTC5 and will share most of its characteristics, including the VTC5's 20A continuous current rating. Similar to what was done by Samsung when they created the 25R5 to replace the 25R2. The capacity and current ratings stayed the same but the R5 version had a chemistry tweak to increase the cycle life of the battery, i.e., how many times it can be charged/discharged.
There are some VTC5A test results online and they show a good 20A battery that gets quite hot by 25A. I'll know more when I get them in soon and start my testing.
